Heather Watson has been ordered to rest and recover after doctors diagnosed that the British No.1 has been suffering from Glandular Fever.

Blood tests in Miami revealed traces of the virus and doctors have indicated that Heather is at the tail-end of the fever, although there’s no news yet of how long a full recovery might take.

Heather said of the illness: "I had to do some blood tests after Miami and the results have shown that I have traces of Glandular Fever (mono) in my system.

There is no prescription for this other than complete rest but the good news is that the doctors have told me I am at the tail end of the fever. This means I have been trying to compete through the symptoms for some time.

"I have been struggling with both training and playing matches and felt so tired and exhausted for months but now that the doctors have found the cause of this, it explains everything that has been happening to me physically and mentally. I am actually relieved to know what is wrong so that I can get myself on the mend.

"I hope to recover as soon as possible by resting my body and getting lots of sleep. I already feel better from being at home for a week, and am looking forward to getting back on Tour soon."

Iain Bates, LTA Head of Women’s Tennis, said: "First of all, get well soon, Heather, from the whole team. We all know she’ll bounce back better than ever. Heather’s focus will be on her recovery, and we will do whatever we can to support Heather and help that process."

That's a shame about Heather. Hopefully she'll recover quickly. She's young and fit.I think the long-term effects affect men more than women, but not really sure.

I heard/read somewhere Robin Soderling has been training for the past 2 months. I'd love to see him back on the court again.

He's started training before and then been forced to give up because, as he said in an interview, he only has to overdo things just once and it's back to square one. Also it seems that he now has an undisclosed thyroid problem for which he's being treated and which is "improving". From an ESPN report dated 26/11/12 -

"In the past couple of months, I had my best weeks and days, which gives me the hope, but I get setbacks and feel worse again," Soderling said. "Overall, it's getting better, but I'm not as desperate to come back anymore tomorrow. I will give it a shot, of course, but I learned to live with the thought that maybe it will not be possible. Whatever happens, I will feel I did all I could."

Sadly his official website has remained dormant since August 2011.

Mono unfortunately tends to be most common in the age group 15-24, and affects as many women as it does men, but I can't find anything that says that men suffer more from the long-term effects than women, just the fact that recovery depends on the seriousness of the virus initially and the way the body's immune system fights it off. Fortunately with Heather, as it was with Federer, the worst symptom seems to have been constant feelings of fatigue. Soderling on the other hand experienced flu-like symptoms and often vomited after matches.

(Well Messrs Murray & Haas, to be precise, with Brad Gilbert throwing in his tuppence-worth)

Installing on-court shot clocks to help the players know when they are about to go over the 25-second time violation rule may not be in the sports' near future, but it’s not out of the question entirely if an affordable solution can be found.

But some ATP players are talking up the idea.

“I think it would help just because, as a player, when you’re playing in a tiebreak like that at the end of the match, I’m not thinking about how long I’m taking between the points,” Andy Murray said. “If you have the clock there on the court, the crowd can see it, the players can see it. Everyone knows whether someone is going over or not and not just the umpire. Because, you can ask the umpire how long you took after a point, and often they don’t actually know exactly how long it was. So I think if there was a clock on the court, then that would help the players to concentrate better.”

Former player and coach Brad Gilbert has encouraged it, as has Tommy Haas, 34, who has seen a number of changes proposed for the tour over the years.

“If I play a 15-20 shot rally, I don’t know where I am for 5 to 10 seconds, so if I can have a shot clock that shows me I have 4 seconds left to get to line to serve, then it’s much easier. So I am trying to encourage them to put a shot clock in place not to distract the players, but so I have a feeling how much time I have left.”

Oh my word, a shot clock on court wouldn't last two minutes. Umpires can't control the crowds now. Imagine a scenario where the crowd has taken against a player and starts counting down every serve. The French crowd is extremely partisan, remember them booing Andy as he came onto court? They'd probably start counting from 1 They've got the 25 second rule and all you need is sensible umpiring. Gasquet, receiving a warning after they'd played a 30 stroke rally, was plain daft.

According to this, Soderling has been in training for the past 2 months:

http://tenisbrasil.uol.com.br/noticias/19094/Soderling-treina-e-considera-enfim-um-retorno/Soderling will try to ensure that the return to the court30/03/2013Stockholm (Sweden) - Away from the circuit since July 2011 due to mononucleosis, Swede Robin Soderling finally able to train with greater frequency and with that first considers the possibility of resuming his career. The information was published by the website Everyday Italian, who spoke with former number 4 ranking.

"Overall, I feel better, but I do not despair of returning as soon as possible," said the Swede. "I'll try, of course, but during that time I learned to live with the idea that it may not be possible to resume my career. Whatever happens, at least I'll make sure I tried everything I could" .

Finalist twice consecutive Roland Garros in 2009 and 2010, Soderling remains the only player to have defeated Spaniard Rafael Nadal at the French Open. His drama began shortly after winning the ATP Bastad. Mononucleosis is an infection that drastically reduces the physical energy, which is disastrous for a competitive athlete.

Soderling has trained regularly in the last two months and says he's getting to play more consistently, although some feel relapse. He reveals that the birth of his daughter, months ago, gave a different perspective of life itself: "For once I am no longer in the foreground.'s A strange feeling, but very enjoyable. Had never thought of anything but tennis, exercising, results. "